The stores would buy the benefits, now provided through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards, from recipients at less than face value. The stores would then bill the government for the full amount, authorities charged.

The recipients would get quick cash to spend any way they wanted, while the store would get free money from the government.

So, for example, someone would sell $100 in SNAP benefits to a store for $40. The store would then redeem the benefits for the full $100, said Sgt. Tom Connelllan.

Four people were each charged today with felony falsifying business records and misuse of food stamps from three stores:

• Employees Moufida Ibrahim, 59, and Endres Ibrahim, 37, both of 5203 Onondaga Road, Onondaga, were arrested at All American Market, 401 Pond St. The Ibrahims are accused of stealing $60,000.

All four were given tickets and released, according to the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office.

"These benefit cards are intended to provide food for needy families and instead are lining the pockets of criminals,” said District Attorney William Fitzpatrick in a news release.

More than 100 people were turning their SNAP benefits in to the stores for cash, Connellan said. Charges against those people are possible, he said. It's likely they'll also lose their ability to get food stamps.

The DA's office would not comment on whether any of the benefits recipients would be charged, citing the ongoing the investigation.

While investigating S&R Convenience Store this morning, police also seized an undisclosed amount of synthetic marijuana, known as "Spike," Connellan said.

Other stores are believed to have participated in the food stamps fraud, Connellan said.

This investigation began six months ago after an unrelated case involving stolen metal, Connellan said. One of the suspects in that case told investigators about the food stamp fraud.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Inspector General's Office routinely handles these cases, Connellan said. He estimated that stores are caught in Syracuse doing this about once a year.

The amount of fraud is only based on what police could prove during the six-month investigation, Connellan said, and is probably "just scratching the surface."